GPU card upgrade suggestion/help.

PeterHegyi · May 21, 2015

Greetings!

I need some help/suggestion with a GPU upgrade.

First of all my PC spec is: CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (OC 3.7ghz)
GPU: GW Geforce GTX 460 (1gb)
RAM: 8gb (1333 mhz, DDR 3)
MotherBoard: Asus M4A78LT-M *Monitor max Resolution: 1650x1050

So, fortunately I can run the Witcher 3 on low-medium setting (even if 70% off ppl here said that I won't be able to run the game at all). My FPS is between 20-25. The game is playable but still the deep game experience is lost..

I would like to upgrade my GPU. I know the most favorable option would be that I get a totally new PC. I know..i know, but I'm a poor guy

Can not afford it at the moment. However, as I see W3 eats mostly my GPU so I would leave my CPU now.

So my question is: Which would be the most suitable GPU for me? ( budget card, under 150$). Taking in consideration that my CPU is pretty old too. So I assume I don't need high end GPU because my CPU will bottleneck it anyway. I don't need 60 fps, nor ultra gameplay. All I wish is a high 30-40 FPS upgrade.

Thanks in advance _^

1LiquidPC · May 21, 2015

A Nvidia GTX 750 Ti, perhaps? Anything better would be bottlenecked by your CPU. I'm not sure what kind of performance increase you would get though For W3.

uplink-svk · May 21, 2015

Hi there,

First things first. Don't underestimate Your CPU. It's the best AMD CPU of all times, at least to me personally, and also my pre-last AMD CPU [last was Thuban 1090T].

X4 965 at 3,7 GHz is rock solid, and it may even feed GTX 970, if not, GTX 960 for 100%. Your best choice is GTX 960, if You can get her under 150 bucks. If not, and You're willing to go with weaker one, look out for GTX 760. You should be able to get her under 150 dollars without a sweat. But remember, GTX 960 can OC really well, and will make all Your gaming dreams come true.

P.S.: Have You tried pushing the Phenom II 965 BE to 4-4,4 GHz? You should be able to get to 4,0 without some harder effort with some luck, You may get to 4,2 GHz.

1LiquidPC - overclocked Phenom II x4 965 BE won't bottleneck anything above 750 Ti. Basic clock has 3,4 GHz, he went up by 10,5% rougly, which is great, because he's nearing the 2500K with some more overclock. I'm positive it can feed GTX 960, coz I built system with 965 BE running at 4,2 GHz some time ago, and it runs perfectly.

PeterHegyi · May 21, 2015

uplink-svk :

Agreed. It is a really good CPU. That's why I don't really want to invest in CPU yet. I can try to OC to 4.4ghz...and I will for sure but first I need to get a better cooler because I still got the stock cooler which is kinda bad in my opinion. However my temps are not going above 60 after 1-2 hour of playing..so I assume its fine.

However..I can't really find any GTX 760 under 200$...Any suggestion?

Anyway, thanks for the fast responses

hamzahfelix · May 21, 2015

As mentioned above, a gtx 960 would be a solid option. The r9 280 or 280x would be a good alternative.

But if they were about the same price, I would definitely go for the 960. The r9 280x would require a quality 600w psu at least. The 960 would only need a quality 400-450w psu to run.

uplink-svk · May 21, 2015

PeterHegyi - what are Your local resellers? Can You list some e-shops here for us/me?

Anyway, going from GTX 460 which You already have, to let's say 750 Ti, is a no-go. It's a very small upgrade [30% raw power-wise], whilst GTX 960 is 2,25x times stronger, compared to GTX 460. Depends on You whether You want to upgrade by 1,3 mutiplier, or by 2,25x. My advice would be, if You can't buy anything above 750 Ti, don't buy it just yet. The upgrade would be marginal and the money You'd invest into the upgrade would be substantial.

PeterHegyi · May 21, 2015

uplink-svk :

http://www.cel.ro/
http://www.emag.ro/
http://www.pcgarage.ro/
http://www.mediadot.ro/
http://www.evomag.ro/

These are the biggest ones in my country..I'm not sure if their pages are translated to EN. Anyway, for example the cheapest GTX 970 is about 470$ in my country..the GTX 960 is about 260-270$...nice country tho

. The price of the GPU is higher than my salary (working in the IT section, lol). Sadly can not afford it.

uplink-svk · May 21, 2015

PeterHegyi - hmm, I see. And if You saved a little more cash? Or that's not an option? Because frankly, upgrading Your graphics card from GTX460 to GTX 750 Ti is a mighty bad idea. You could simply throw those money into sewer as well :/

If not, go get this one, but know that increase in framerate will be "tops" 30%, and if You OC her, a lot, it will be "tops" 45%.

http://www.evomag.ro/COMPONENTE-PC-Placi-Video/MSI-Placa-Video-MSI-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti-Twin-Frozr-Gaming-2GB-GDDR5-128bit-111642.html

Or if You can crank it up a bit, get this one:

http://www.evomag.ro/COMPONENTE-PC-Placi-Video/ASUS-Placa-Video-ASUS-Radeon-R9-270X-2GB-GDDR5-256bit-110983.html

She's a lot stronger, and worth the money.

PeterHegyi · May 21, 2015

uplink-svk :

I see..you are right. I don't think its worth to buy a GTX 750Ti..well this is my country :/ I will stay with the GTX 460 because I have no other option. The GTX 750Ti is almost 200$..Anyway, thanks for Your help, I greatly appreciate it. Maybe..maybe one day I can afford a new (worthy) GPU, but not in the near future.

uplink-svk · May 21, 2015

PeterHegyi - it's a good call Peter. It would've been a waste of cash atm. Btw. You're from Romania, right?

PeterHegyi · May 21, 2015

uplink-svk :

Yes I am from Romania. A country where you work 10 hour/day and the price of a medium-end GPU is more than your salary

But meh..this is not the appropriate forum to debate this.

1LiquidPC · May 21, 2015

Good info, uplink-svk. I wasn't aware of the speed increase of the 965BE OC'd being close to the 2500k. Thanks for the insight

I'm not all that familiar w/ AMD performance. I keep up w/ their parts coming out, ect., but not up to date on where their performance is. I have a Llano A6-3650 HTPC, and I put together an Athlon II X3 system a few years back. I got to tinker w/ a system running an 8350 awhile ago, and was impressed by that for what it was. Getting a bit off topic, but saving would appear to be the best advice for PeterHegyi.

uplink-svk · May 21, 2015

PeterHegyi - that's a hard time. I could get You something here in Slovakia and send it to You via UPS, but I guess UPS would be like super expensive in Romania

1LiquidPC - 965 BE is a direct rival to Core i7 920, which was the state of art CPU at it's time. Intel Core i5-2500K is running solid 6470 points in cpubenchmark, whilst AMD Phenom II X4 965 runs only 4267. Which, at the basic clock puts 965 down by 30% of raw performance, though, if You OC Phenom X4 965 from it's default 3,4 GHz, to let's say 4,0-4,2 GHz, or if You're lucky to 4,4 GHz, You literally rise the performance of the CPU by 1/3rd, and that give's You a healthy competitor for 2500K.

It can't be compared with overclocked 2500k, not even close, but the basic clock of 2500k, vs. heavily OCed Phenom II 965 BE is comparable.

PeterHegyi · May 21, 2015

uplink-svk :

Well thanks

I'm not sure how much the UPS transport could be but I think the surplus would be higher than the price difference of the GPU. Anyway thank you for you effort!

Search

GPU card upgrade suggestion/help.

PeterHegyi

Reputable

uplink-svk

1LiquidPC

Splendid

uplink-svk

Distinguished

PeterHegyi

Reputable

hamzahfelix

Distinguished

uplink-svk

Distinguished

PeterHegyi

Reputable

uplink-svk

Distinguished

PeterHegyi

Reputable

uplink-svk

Distinguished

PeterHegyi

Reputable

1LiquidPC

Splendid

uplink-svk

Distinguished

PeterHegyi

Reputable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page